Thieves stole my N12 million cash, Saraki says

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The President of the Nigerian Senate, Bukola Saraki, on Sunday said burglars stormed his country home in Ilorin, Kwara State, and carted away N12 million.

Mr. Saraki said the incident occurred 2 weeks ago at an administrative quarters in the house. He said the incident had been reported to the police.

In a statement signed by his media aide, Yusuph Olaniyonu, the lawmaker said a report that his domestic aides were responsible for the theft is not true; saying the perpetrators were yet to be identified. He also said the money stolen was N12 million and not N300 million.

Mr. Olaniyonu did not disclose why the Senate President, who is being prosecuted for false asset declaration, needed that much cash in his house. He, however, said the money was not public funds.

The latest heist of Mr. Saraki’s funds is coming 6 months after two State Security Services agents in his security detail allegedly participated in an armed robbery of a bureau de change operator.

The two officials, Ahmadu Maigari and George Ibbi, colluded with other colleagues in the service and military personnel to carry out the heist, the SSS said

“Preliminary investigations have revealed that Abdulrasheed Ahmadu Maigari of the DSS, conspired with four other colleagues of his namely: Solomon Inusa, Peter Okoye, Patrick Ishaya and George IBBI, to carry out this reprehensible act.

“While three of the DSS staff are now at large, the Military Authorities have commenced a detailed investigation of five of its personnel involved in the crime,” the security service said in a December 6, 2015 statement.

Read Mr. Olaniyonu’s full statement on the recent incident below:
SaharaReporters’ Story Full of Falsehood and Exaggeration

The report yesterday by SaharaReporters about a burglary in the Ilorin home of Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki contained series of falsehood and at best an exaggeration of an incident which happened two weeks ago in which N12 million was stolen by some unknown persons inside the Administrative Office located next door to the house.

In a statement, Yusuph Olaniyonu, Special Adviser to the Senate President on Media and Publicity stated that the unknown persons broke into the safe in the Administrative Office and stole the N12 million. The incident had since been reported to the police and the Kwara State Police command are investigating the matter with a view to nail the culprits.

“There is therefore no truth in the claim by SaharaReporters that the money ran into hundreds of millions, that it was in foreign currency or that the incident happened in Dr. Saraki’s room. The amount was simply in Naira. Also, the money has nothing to do with Kwara State Government.

“For the umpteenth time, we need to reiterate the fact that SaharaReporters’ fixation that any money spent by Saraki or that is in his possession is from Kwara State Government is unfounded, unwarranted, lacks any basis and irresponsible.

We wonder whether Saraki was such a poor man before 2003 when he was elected Governor that he could no longer own any money without SaharaReporters attributing the source to the State Government.

“In its usual unethical and disgraceful haste to assassinate the Character of the Senate President, SaharaReporters ignored the simple professional practice for it to contact the Police to find out the facts of the incident. It merely created its own usually fictional story and published it. This is an online publication that cares not about its credibility or the journalism credo that facts are sacred and opinion is free.

“We call on all members of the public to ignore all the claims in the story. Dr. Saraki will allow the police to do their work and unravel the person or persons behind this theft in the Administrative Office,” he stated.